CULLMAN – Local real estate agent Richard Neese became a part of the Homes for Heroes program two months ago. The St. Bernard graduate and former officer with the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office is a realtor with Weichert, Realtors Carter & Company and has a passion for helping local heroes get the best deals possible in their home buying and selling endeavors. His relationship with Homes for Heroes fits the bill perfectly.
“Originally I was in law enforcement and worked for the sheriff’s office here in Cullman. When I heard about this program from Brandon Snider who is the mortgage lender affiliate at Willow Bend Mortgage here in Cullman, it seemed like a good fit. I’m also in the military, in the Army Reserves,” said Neese with pride.
Beginning after 9/11 as a way to express gratitude to people who give of themselves for the betterment of their local towns and neighborhoods, Homes for Heroes states that its mission is “to provide extraordinary savings to local heroes who provide extraordinary services to our community every day.”
Neese continued, “This program is for heroes, which is firefighters, police officers, teachers, medical professionals and more. The people that we consider heroes get a check after closing to say thank for the service they’ve done for whatever job they do.”
The national program provides the hero home buyer or seller with rebates, discounted lending and closing fees and discounted home inspections. Locally, that adds up to quite a bit of savings.
“What it ends up being is if someone buys a $100,000 home, they get 0.7 percent of that back. So, a $100,000 home would get a check for $700. The whole brokerage actually participates in it because when we get back our commission check, we cut out 30 percent of it and send it to the Homes for Heroes Program. That’s why we can do it the way we do because we send it to them and they turn around and write a check to the folks that are heroes.”
The average savings for the teachers, military members, healthcare workers, firefighters and police officers is $2,000 with Homes for Heroes. For Neese, becoming an affiliate with the program was the ideal choice to give back to our Cullman area heroes.
“For me, it was a no-brainer. I wanted to give back to the guys because I know what the deputies make here and it’s almost nothing. I’m the local affiliate in Cullman on the real estate side and Brandon is on the mortgage side. Brandon gives back a $500 rebate on the closing costs.”
Neese is also networking with other companies and their representatives throughout Cullman such as Alfa Insurance’s Mark South, who offers discounts to the program’s participants as well.
For more information on the Homes for Heroes program, visit www.homesforheroes.com.
Local affiliate Neese can be contacted at 256-708-1511 or 256-737-9611. Swing by the office to visit him at 403 Fourth Ave. SW in Cullman. He can also be reached by email at richard@cartercompany.net.
